RICK METHOT: Time to allow Sunday deer hunting in Pennsy

I learned to drive on the dirt roads around our house, and a supermarket parking lot, in what is still called the “Back Mountain” area of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

My father took me to the latter on the Sundays leading up to the test for my driver’s license, 52 years ago, because the supermarket and most all other stores were closed on “The Lord’s Day” and the lot was a wide-open space.

It all goes back to the infamous “Blue Laws” that have been around for nearly 400 years that basically say you can’t have any fun on a Sunday.

I recall when stores that were open, only a few, had roped off sections where you couldn’t buy the wares within…purchase a hammer? Sure, a bag of nails? No. It got almost that ridiculous.

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Working at the Pocono Record in Stroudsburg, Pa., in 1966, if we wanted a few drinks after we put the paper to bed on a Sunday night, we had to run across the river into New Jersey to the Kittatinny bar in the Delaware Water Gap. Those “Save the Kittatinny” bumper stickers of the time were not referring to a mountain range, but a saloon.

Alas, the joint was doomed with the debacle and failed Tocks Island Dam project.

But Blue Laws remain and one that lingers is that no deer hunting is allowed in Pennsylvania on Sundays.

This is an outdated, archaic rule that should be scrapped as soon as possible.

The “day of rest” argument is just horse hockey. Farmers, some of them, are supposedly against it, but they still have to feed livestock, milk dairy cows, haul manure and do other chores. Resting they ain’t.

The shopping centers are going full tilt, ball games and concerts are held on Sundays, and…finally…some of the state-run liquor stores are now open from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. I know which one is open on the route to my lake camp. You have to plan ahead.

In an editorial on the subject, not usual commentary for a mainstream newspaper, the Carlise (Pa.) Sentinel called for lifting the ban saying, “the vast majority of residents of this state aren’t Quakers, and singling out hunting while sporting events, shopping and buying liquor get a pass, is patently unfair.”

The Quaker reference was to state founder William Penn and the band of sourpusses.

The argument from supporters of the ban say it makes the woods safer for other recreational pursuits like hiking. As the editorial points out, deer hunting during the traditional two week season involves only two Sundays a year. Folks can go walk in the local park.

To me, Sunday is pretty much a wasted day in Pennsylvania, both the day before the season and the middle of it. You sight in your rifle, sit around and watch the NFL, if your camp has power and a television, or read books.

Those sports that really do hunt to put food on the table are being denied another day’s chance and there is no good reason for it.

Here in New Jersey you can hunt deer on Sundays, with a bow on private property or a Wildlife Management Area, and that fact is greatly appreciated by sportsmen who are pressed for time. A bill to extend that to allow deer hunting with a firearm on Sundays in the Garden State has been introduced in the state Assembly.

You can hunt here on Sundays with firearms, but for stocked birds on semi-wild or commercial preserves, not deer.

Not allowing the three quarters of a million deer hunters in Pennsylvania to take advantage of such an opportunity in this day and age is just plain silly.

FARM CROP

It took awhile, but we finally brought venison home from the Pennsy farm. In all two 8-pointers and five doe were tagged as of last Wednesday morning. I remembered how to shoot straight and while failing to see a decent buck (four, and they were either not enough points or small) and filled my doe permit. I gutted, skinned and quartered the deer myself and put six roasts, the liver, backstraps and five gallon Zip Loc bags of ground meat in the freezer.

My old pal, outdoor writer Jim Stabile, in his mid-70’s, limped into the Jersey woods and killed a six pointer last week.

The Jersey bear harvest was down from last year as of the fourth day. It coincided with the six-day firearm season that ended yesterday. The largest we heard of was a 702-pounder. No report on the buck tally yet.

— Check the Out in the Open blog for more reports, bird stockings, and dates of interest. Contact me at rikwrite@aol.com.